Morning deskers- how are we all today? Our regular Wednesday link up around the world, courtesy of our Desker Extrordinaire, Julia at The Stamping Ground.Complete cheat, this post, nothing to do with my desk at all. Apart from why I spent almost no time at it over the weekend. We have had an aquarium in our dining room (doesn't that sound posh! its just that these old Victorian houses have two downstairs rooms, lol) for about 13 years, and over Christmas Beloved Hubby commented that the central heating seemed to be evaporating the water, and he needed to top it up. Turns out, it wasn't evaporating, one of the seams had developed a (thankfully) slow leak, about halfway up the side. So, to try and minimise the risk of the water pressure splitting it even further, Hubby gaffer-taped it during the week when he realised what was happening, thats the old tank, complete with plant selection bought to go in the new tank.And the gaffer tape.
This journey involved a visit to an aquarium supplier near Birmingham, which should have been 15 minutes down the M42. Satnav decided she fancied a scenic tour of Birmingham, took us just over an hour Friday afternoon, so by the time we finally got there it was closed. Return on Saturday, this time completely ignoring the sat nav. Looked at tanks ( HOW MUCH?), went to another place, we spotted almost next door. Then decided to go have a look at Webbs in Hagley. We'd already been to Webbs in Wychbold, who didn't have much, and their aquarium centre website showed a nice big showroom full of various makes of tank. Complete waste of a 40 mile round trip- the fancy centre turned out to be a garden shed with four fishtanks! So back up the M42 to Shirley Aquatics, where we'd started. We also decided to swap the wall it was against, which did make it easier to do the swap over. Don't even ask how it long it took to get the backing in place, straight with no creases! Good old DST.
Planted, gravelled and with the fish transferred. All the cables you can see are actually the old light fitting from the other tank, waiting to go into storage. Just in case.
Hasn't got any shoals of fish yet, mainly Plecostamus, a type of catfish. And one Ropefish.
This is the Ropefish, and why there are no shoals of little fish. If it can go in his mouth, it will. So the fish we get will have to be bigger than snack-size, lol.
The fish below is a Plecostamus, a Snakeskin Plec.They can look quite fearsome, and get very big, but eat only algae.And Cucumber. They love cucumber! The stripy snail at the front is a Ninja, or Assassin snail- they eat other snails, which breed like wildfire & infest a tank.
So the only time I actually spent at my desk was during Sunday night, when I played around with the white inkpads in the previous post.
Have a good Wednesday all, I'll be scheduling the post, and will link up before I go to bed.
As a result of doing the re- wiring of stuff into the tank, Hubby came across this on the net, and I thought I'd post it here for anyone who may have purchased electrical goods with plug attached, or new electric plugs. And not just off dodgy market traders- these in the story are on products purchased through traders on Amazon and E-Bay. Dangerous/Illegal Electrical plugs. Its quite a longish read, but check it out when you have 5 minutes, save the link for later. Its quite frightening.
26 comments:
Hullo there dear Shaz... well what fishy tale indeedy!! and fun and games .. amazing isn't it when simple things take forever to do..
...but thankfully we are still able to do them mostly... will save nightmare read for later maybe.. as buy all my stuff from local retail when comes to electrical just dont trust elsewhere. Shaz in oz.x #7
A fish that eats cucumbers huh? Now THAT sounds like a fishy tale for sure. But I believe you, cause I don't think anybody could make that up! LOL
Your new tank and set up looks really good. My DH has always wanted an aquarium, me....not so much. I know I would end up being the one doing the feeding and cleaning. Our youngest DS had a small one, but HE took care of it. I enjoyed that one.
My DH has been home since last Saturday, I haven't gotten much accomplished at my desk either. When he is off we do a lot of running around (similar to you two) getting things done that we need to do together, or me just tagging along from store to store just because I need to make one stop, and don't want to take two vehicles.
Krisha #13
Good job - for you and the fish- it was a slow leak! Glad you got your new tank sorted- fish are fascinating to watch, once they're in place, lol! Your white ink pad post was really interesting and what white, whites you got! (I hate staz-on white too!) Helen 23
Loll....a Ninja Snail, now there's an oxymoron of ever I heard one!! The slowest assassin in the world ;-)
Thanks for the interesting pics and info, that's a beautiful new tank you've got. I love watching fish, it's so relaxing, especially when they're nomming on cucumber :-)
Hugs, LLJ 38 xx
I love your tank. I love your fishies too. I have a plecto too. He's a huge baby. My friends call him the monster. I love rope fish. My rope fish passed away last year. They are so much fun to watch. Thanks for sharing your tank with us.
Made an interesting deviation from the norm, your leaky tank woes. But I did have to sneak back to see your white ink pad comparison. Very helpful!
My mate from college had an oscar (? pretty sure that was the one) and it ate hamburger. He would put a little bit on a toothpick and it would leap out of the water, like a killer whale at Seaworld, ringing a bell! It got too good at leaping and when his little brother left the lid off one day little fishie beached himself on the carpet. He replaced it with a piranha named Judge Dredd....
:)
We've only ever had goldfish...
Happy WOYWW!
Mary Anne (19)
Now that would have been a mess if it had burst!!!
Glad you are sorted...the white ink post was really interesting...thanks
xoxo Sioux
Lovely fishes! I've always wanted a fish tank but hubby says no because we have cats. And toddlers. Haha!
Thanks for the link too.
Happy woyww
Zoe #32
I remember Shirley Aquatics from when it was just a wooden shed in the garden of his house, and we used to go there for all our tropical fish. There is another place that you may not have found up at New End - Fanday Aquatics in Brandheath Lane. I shall have a look at that article on plugs etc. The change of wall for your tank is probably a good one to get it away from the computer. Have fun getting everything properly set up to your satisfaction. xx Maggie #21
Glad your hubby was on the case and figured out the issue. Love how it turned out! My late hubby had one for years (not as big as yours) and loved it. Unfortunately the heater went bad....yep, cooked the fish. UGH. We went to cats after that. Enjoy the day! Winnie#68
oh that could have been a disaster, well done to him for spotting it. I used to have tropical fish they are very relaxing arent they.
Gill x
Glad you found the slow leak before something much worse happened and you had fish all over your carpet!
Jackie 33
Beautiful tank. My parents used to have one but it takes some upkeep. Hope your big fish doesn't eat too many. I always loved the Angel fish! Take care Zo xx 59
Free flowing fish water would not be a good thing. Glad it was okay in the end. Susanne #66
Great WOYWW thanks for the visit xx Jan
Love your tale of the fish tanks! My son's partner has two tanks - one for fish and another for corals and the like! He seems to spend hours looking for stuff for them but I must say that are very relaxing to look at!
I've been loving your black and white, white and black cards but I haven't been able to comment on my phone - home for a while so on a proper computer!!! Chrisx 60
Ah, I loved having fish. Thankfully our tanks never sprang a leak though
Happy Wednesday
Laura
65
Gosh a fishy story and well noticed in time too - thanks for visiting me this week BJ#52
I too have a large fish tank in the dining room (which is really just a wide spot in the hall). You can barely see a corner peeking out from behind the pencil stand on my desk. Ours is a bow front and the stabilizing piece on top broke. I had horrible visions but non-handy hubby did it proud. We have ENORMOUS fish in our tank. They weren't originally enormous. We have tin foil barbs, a ghost, a pleco, an iridescent shark and something that looks like cross between a cockroach and a fish. The fish menace you when it is their dinner time. Then they splash you when you feed them. We ask them politely to die so we can have shoals of little fish. They refuse to cooperate. We have neons and a pleco in the little tank in the bedroom. That tank grows algae all the time. Grrr.... Love your new tank and the photos of your fish. Trade ya?!
Glad you noticed the small leak before it turned into a big leak!
Had a look at your post re white stamping. Very interesting. I haven't had much luck with white stamp pads either. The best so far has been the Moonlight White (which you mentioned).
Thanks for dropping by earlier.
Hi shaz
I never had you and DH down as fishy folk. the new tank looks great though. My DD1 had a similar problem recently but was moving and had to move the fish in a large bucket until she could get the new one delivered.
have a great week
janet
I am struggling with the DLP too as there is too much to look at it has totally taken ove rmy FB
Hey you were literally two minutes away from me when you were at Shirley Aquatics!!! Hope your fishes love their new home. Love Debbie xXx
Aaargh!!! - a leaking fish tank of that size could spell disaster to your carpet, furniture, whole room!! Thank goodness you spotted it early and it was "only" a slow leak. Used to live in Shirley - several lifetimes ago - our girls loved going to see aquariums - aquariae??? - whatever is the plural!?
have an easier week.
Margaret #7
Oh dear! That's a lot of work. Brought back memories of my childhood and helping my dad clean his fish tank.
Happy belated WOYWW!
Tertia #14
For being number 1 this week, I've sure taken a long time to return your visit. I blame it on Blogger and life getting in the way. Your tall fish tale is quite intriguing. I couldn't quit reading. Honest, it was a very fascinating read, especially the part about the gaffer tape and the illegal electrical plugs. Better than a desk, I think. Too bad you had such a "fun" time out and about before you could select anything.
Wonderful story and pictures glad you found the slow leak.
Hugs diane
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